May 19, 2011 by Rogan Tinsley Leave a comment

Comparing Photosynthetic and Photovoltaic Efficiencies and Recognizing the Potential for Improvement

1. Robert E. Blankenship, et al.

Comparing photosynthetic and photovoltaic efficiencies is not a simple issue. Although both processes harvest the energy in sunlight, they operate in distinctly different ways and produce different types of products: biomass or chemical fuels in the case of natural photosynthesis and nonstored electrical current in the case of photovoltaics. In order to find common ground for evaluating energy-conversion efficiency, we compare natural photosynthesis with present technologies for photovoltaic-driven electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. Photovoltaic-driven electrolysis is the more efficient process when measured on an annual basis, yet short-term yields for photosynthetic conversion under optimal conditions come within a factor of 2 or 3 of the photovoltaic benchmark. We consider opportunities in which the frontiers of synthetic biology might be used to enhance natural photosynthesis for improved solar energy conversion efficiency.

Science 13 May 2011: 
Vol. 332 no. 6031 pp. 805-809 
DOI: 10.1126/science.1200165